The GM will determine the starting level for the campaign. Each player chooses a Race and Class for their character. The Race will determine which dice the player has access to, as well as grant some special abilities. The Class will determine which abilities the player will be most effective at, as well as which skills are most easily accessed.

Once each player has chosen a Race and Class, they will need 1 point worth of dice, for each level of the character, from their race. A first level character will have a single “common” 1-point die from the race they chose.

Each time a player levels up, they gain an additional point worth of dice for their character. They are never restricted on which dice they can select, except by their race. A Warrior may take a die with Magic faces on it if he wishes, for example.

Retraining

Players have the option at each level, after choosing their next die, to add one – and only one – die to their character, swapping out another die (or dice) worth the same amount of points; this allows players to “retrain” their characters with different abilities as they gain levels.

Players may instead choose to “break down” one die into multiple dice with the same total point value. For example, upon reaching level 5, a player might want to “break down” a 3-point die into three 1-point dice instead.

Ability Scores

Characters rely on a number of different ability scores to determine their natural limits. These scores are based on Class, Race, Level, and Dice.

Health: A character’s health determines how resilient that character is; how much damage they can withstand before going unconscious and eventually dying. Damage reduces your number of Health points by an equal amount. Health is based on the character’s Race, Class, and Level. Your class will determine your starting Health, and how many Health are gained at each level, while your Race might grant a bonus to your Health.

Defense: A character’s Defense is a measure of how well a character can avoid damage. Each character had three defense scores: Save, Parry, and Dodge. To determine a character’s base for each defense, count the total number of appropriate results on all sides of all that character’s dice. This number is the number of “automatic results” that character generates on that type of defense roll:

Dodge: Maneuver. Characters can use Dodge against all weapon attacks and some spells.

Parry: Melee. Characters can Parry one melee attack per turn. If a character attacks with a weapon that isn't balanced, they subtract 2 results from any Parry attempt made until their next turn (see EQUIPMENT for more information)

Save: Save is a catch-all defense that all characters may use. There are two types of Save rolls: Attack Saves and Effect Saves. Attack Saves, which are used against weapons and some spells, are increased by armor and shields. Effect Saves, to resist poisons, mind control, or other special effects are not affected by armor or shields.

Actions

When players attempt an action, they will need a specific number of “results” of a certain type (decided by the GM) to succeed. They roll all their dice and count up the total number of icons of the appropriate type to determine if they were successful. For example: when a player is trying to make a melee attack, they will need a certain number of Melee results to successfully hit their target. They roll all their dice, and count up all Melee results to see if their attack hit!

Each class grants a character “automatic results” to a specific type of action, equal to their level. For example: a level 2 Warrior has 2 “automatic results” when trying to make a melee attack. Players roll their dice as normal, counting up their dice results for the chosen type, then add their “automatic results” to their roll to determine their total. In this way, Warriors are better at Melee, Mages are better at Magic, and so on.

Players may attempt any action, but without automatic results, they’ll need to roll well to succeed!

The Dice

Each die is worth a specific point value. The smallest dice, known as “common” dice, are worth 1 point. The next largest die, known as “uncommon” dice, are worth 2 points. The largest of the 6-sided dice, known as “rare” dice, are worth 3 points. Rare dice also have Special Ability Icons on them, which cannot be found on smaller dice. These open up new possibilities to players, but they can tie up a lot of points in just a few dice.

There are a number of different outcomes available on each die:

The “face” on the die is known as the “ID”. When an ID is rolled, the rolling player has two options:

- Count the ID as results of the appropriate type equal to the point value of the die, OR
- Reroll the ID

A 1-point die, when rolling an ID, could be counted as 1 result of whatever action you’re rolling for, or it could be rerolled. Rerolling risks the possibility of getting no results instead, but many dice have faces with more of a specific icon than the die is worth! Some 1-point dice have, for instance, 2 Melee results on one side; that reroll might be worth the risk! There is also the possibility of rolling a Special Ability on a 3-point die, so decide carefully.

Melee icons always look like melee weapons. Sometimes they are axes, or swords, or even clubs. If you’re unsure what an icon is, check your race’s Icon Chart to find out!

Missile icons are usually fairly easy to spot. They often look like bows, crossbows, or even slingshots!

Magic icons can vary greatly from one race to another, from beaded necklaces to magic wands. Check your race’s Icon Chart to find out what you’re looking for!

Maneuver icons also vary greatly, from footprints to paws, even sailboats!

Save icons usually look like a shield in some form or another.

Any icon not listed above is probably a Special Ability Icon, which is covered later in the rules.

Choosing Dice

There are advantages and disadvantages to choosing lots of low-point dice, or for choosing fewer high-point dice. By choosing fewer dice, and opting for the higher-point value dice, two things happen: you gain access to the special abilities granted by 3-point dice, but you also take a chance of highly random die rolls; when you roll only a couple of dice, you have a strong chance of rolling either very high or very low results. When you choose to take a large number of lower-point dice, you have much more stable rolls, tending to roll a steady average instead of wildly high or low results, but you also miss out on the potential for special abilities on the 3-point dice. Choose wisely!

Turn Sequence

There are two “speeds” at which Dragon Diceâ„¢ RPG is played: Combat speed and Story speed.

During Story speed, players aren’t restricted to taking turns in order, and time flows freely at the discretion of the GM. The GM explains story elements, such as players travelling across many miles or spending several days searching for information. Several in-game minutes, days, even weeks can pass during Story speed.

During Combat speed, each player takes a turn in order, and once each player has taken a turn, the round ends. Each round accounts for about 5 seconds of time in the game.
While in combat, each player can take one Movement action and one Normal action. Players may also opt to take a second Movement instead of a Normal action, but not vice-versa.

Movement

Each race has a “Base Movement”, which determines the number of squares on the battle grid that a character can move in one Movement action.

Action Types

Players have a number of options during a Normal action, such as Melee Attack, Missile Attack, and Magic. Each of these options is outlined below:

Melee Attack: When a player makes a melee attack, they must first be adjacent to their target. They then roll their dice looking for Melee results, adding any automatic results as normal, to determine their Attack Total. Their target now must make a defense roll (Parry, Dodge, or Save), adding the appropriate Defense score to the roll to determine their Defense Total.

If the Defense Total is higher than, or equal to, the Attack Total, the attack was successfully blocked, parried, or dodged. Nothing happens, the attack failed.

If the Attack Total is higher than the Defense Total, the attack landed! The character deals damage according to the weapon that character is wielding. The attack deals damage for each Melee result higher than the Defense Total. Tell the GM what your weapon’s damage is and the GM will secretly calculate how much total damage was dealt.

Ranged Attack: Similar to a Melee attack, a Missile attack is a roll comparing Missile results to the defending creature’s Defense roll. The main differences are:

- Ranged weapons are used instead of melee weapons.
- The attack can be made from any distance, up to the maximum range of the weapon.
- For attacks beyond the normal range of the weapon, reduce the number of results by 2.

Magic: Magic is handled much differently from a normal attack. To cast spells, a player may either roll their dice and add automatic results as normal, or just use their automatic results. In either case, the total Magic result is the number of Magic Points that player may spend this turn; they may cast any ONE spell that costs no more than their Magic Points.

If the player chose to roll their dice for Magic Points, that player must choose one die to set aside after the Magic action is completed; that die cannot be rolled again for Magic this combat (but may still be used for Saves, Melee, etc). This represents a player’s natural limits to casting magic; casting more powerful and dangerous spells weakens a character temporarily. Characters at low levels are very limited in their spell access, since they will spend most of their time casting low-level spells, but at higher levels they can gain access to a great deal of power indeed!

Last edited by stormywaters on Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:19 pm GMT; edited 1 time in total

Yep, this is the place to put any RPG that use Dragon Diceâ„¢._________________You can never have too many dice.
First Place at the first ever Daemon Diceâ„¢ sealed starter tournament.
Battlefest tied for first GenCon 2012
Single Race Champion GenCon 2008-2009, Sealed Box Champion GenCon 2007,2009,
My collection is 21,500 Dragon Diceâ„¢, 20,000 Daemon Diceâ„¢, and others (too many to count).